Cybermum Australia

Alex Merton-McCann

McAfee’s Cybermum in Australia, Alex, is a mother of four boys aged 13 to 20, who juggles family, work, home life, sporting commitments, hobbies and her children’s ever growing social lives (on and offline). Like many Australian parents, Alex has concerns about the safety of her children, who are growing up in an increasingly online world. Alex’s blogs will be about internet safety issues and sharing her own experiences, insights and lessons to help keep kids and families safe online. To learn more about Alex and McAfee’s Family Internet Safety Centre, go to www.mcafee.com/cybermum, follow Alex on Twitter @Cybermum_AU or email Alex at cybermum@mcafee.com

Today is Safer Internet Day – an annual global event aimed at encouraging a better internet. And this year’s theme is a beauty: ‘Create, Connect and Share Respect. A Better Internet Starts With You.’ As a mum and technology educator, I believe respect is at the core of all positive and safe online (and offline) …

I am such a fan of school holidays! No music lessons, no sport, no commitments. Bliss!! The crazy school term routine is no more and people can just ‘be’. Marvellous!! But all good things must come to an end. So, unless you want the police knocking on your door, the kids must go back to …

I think I could count on my hand the people I know who have NOT had their email hacked. Maybe they found a four-leaf clover when they were kids! Email hacking is one of the very unfortunate downsides to living in our connected, digital world. And It’s often a situation that even the savviest tech …

My youngest son is a Smartwatch fanatic. At the age of 14, he’s already ‘progressed’ through much-loved Pebble and Sony devices. Is it a James Bond thing? Sorry 007, I don’t think so. Rather, Mr 14 is a tech-savvy consumer who always ‘needs’ to have the latest and greatest. Bet you have one of those …

If your brood of kids is anything like mine, holiday travel is all about devices and Wi-Fi. Sure, we’ll focus on sights and activities when we get to our destination, but the journey is made all the sweeter with a huge dose of technology! And as all my boys have pretty basic mobile phone plans …

What’s on your family’s Christmas list this year? Let me guess – technology! Our desire for shiny, fast, connected devices is almost a biological condition this time of year. However, our single-minded desire to get these devices in our hands at all costs, often means we forget about the risks… To try and understand how …

In 1990, the buzz around STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) just didn’t exist. When I was doing my HSC, my subjects were all humanities. Lots of English and history broken up with a bit of French. For me, it was a dream. No science and maths – subjects that I was quite average at …

Stay Safe Online Week 2017 Cyber safety: outsourcing to experts makes such sense! Like most multi-tasking millennium mums, I’m a BIG fan of outsourcing: ironing, cleaning and gardening – it just makes such sense! Why not get an expert involved so you can focus on the things you love? Smart, I say! But did you …

Fake news: we’ve all heard about it but what does it actually mean? Is it really a new concept or just a fancy buzzword? What Is Fake News? Well let’s keep it simple. Fake news is news that deliberately isn’t factually accurate. It’s a type of pseudo-journalism that spreads premeditated misinformation or hoaxes via traditional …

If you’re heading away these holidays, it’s likely you’ve workshopped the idea of whether to ‘unplug’ – and I’m not referring to turning off your electricity. Unplugging means turning off devices and disconnecting from the internet – yes, a digital detox! Deep breaths, people, we can talk about this calmly. New research commissioned by McAfee …